Newly diagnosed type 2

[sharon101]

Hi
Recently diagnosed after a shock visit to A&E with high sugar levels and ketones in urine. Very scary.
Been put on metformin 500mg twice a day which has recently been upped to 1000mg twice a day. Really struggled with bad stomach pains and running to toilet.
Metformin swapped to slow release yesterday.
Feel a little better but I’m struggling any help advice for me?

 

[Drummer]

Hopefully the slow release will help, but if it doesn't you can suggest trying diet only to see how that works - Metformin and Atorvastatin pretty much wrecked me back at the end of 2016 and I would not take them again for a pension.

 

[ianf0ster]

Hi @sharon101 and welcome to the forum
while Metformin helps you liver release less glucose into your bloodstream, it does nothing about the food you eat (at least the carbohydrates in it) rapidly breaking down into glucose after you put it in your mouth.
Many people find that reducing the total carbohydrates in their meals (from grains, potatoes, starchy veg, fruit etc.) is all that they need to do. Though some still take metformin because they like it for other reasons.
For example, before I bought a BG monitor and actually tested before breakfast and then 2 hrs after first bite I thought that a breakfast of whole grain oat porridge with a large banana was a healthy breakfast for me - how wrong I was!

 

[Windy]

@sharon101 have you contacted your GP surgery to see if they have a diabetes nurse you can talk to? Make a list of questions that you'd like answering, ie diet, what to eat, exercise, medication etc.
I've been recently diagnosed and the nurse did me a referral to a 6 hour diabetes course at a local surgery. I've not done it yet, but I'm hoping it's helpful.
I'm also on metformin, but half the dose you are. It makes me feel a bit nauseous and bloated and have a weird taste in my mouth.
I don't know if you have specific questions you want to ask? I've found the various forums and lovely people here helpful, and also bought myself some recipe books about eating to maintain lower blood sugar, taking daily walks and put myself on a diet in the hope that I can either reduce my need for metformin, or stop needing it altogether.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @sharon101

Hope you find it helpful and encouraging to share experiences with the friendly folks here 🙂

You might like to sign up to the Learning Zone (link in the main menu) which is a mine of information.

Additionally, members here frequently recommend Maggie Davey’s Letter and Gretchen Becker’s book T2 Diabetes, the first year, which you can work through gradually and will give you a solid starting point.

Good luck and keep asking questions 🙂

 

[rebrascora]

Very high blood glucose levels and ketones are often an indication of Type 1 diabetes rather than Type 2. Can you tell us a bit about the lead up to your emergency hospital visit. Had you been having symptoms for a while and what were they?
Have you noticed any weight loss or have you gained weight recently?
Do you know the blood test results and ketone results when you were admitted?

Many doctors assume if you are a mature adult and perhaps carrying a bit of extra weight as most of us do in middle age, that you must be Type 2 because some seem to be taught that Type 1 diabetes only exhibits in children and young people, when in fact many of us here on the forum developed Type 1 later in life. I was 56. It is important to ask about this as if you are Type 1 and you don't get the correct treatment (insulin), you could end up in hospital again. Sometimes you may be OK for weeks, months or even years, especially if you change your diet and cut down on carbs which allows your failing pancreas to cope a little better. Anyway, just something to ask the nurse or doctor when you see them, particularly with you having ketones.

 

[sharon101]

Hi
Before being in A&E I was extremely thirsty and doing extra trips to toilet. My eyesight had reduced significantly and had palpitations and generally feeling unwell.
On admission my blood sugars were 30mmol and ketones 5.1.
When my GP did hba1c it was 103 so they said I’d been diabetic for at least 3 months if not longer
I have now been on slow release since Thursday and feel my stomach issues are slightly better.
My sugars are in range most of the time but I am still struggling to read. I have changed my diet and feel I am coping ok.
I’m at the GP’s this Wednesday so shall see how I’m doing.

 

[Leadinglights]

It is iniquitous that problems with your eye sight can occur when your blood glucose is high but also if it has been apparently Ok problems then occur when your levels start to go down especially if they reduce quite quickly. When glucose levels are high your tears are sugary and the focus changes but you can move from having those sugary tears back to more salty ones as your glucose levels go down and the focus changes again. It can take a while to settle down.

 

[PattiEvans]

Hi
Before being in A&E I was extremely thirsty and doing extra trips to toilet. My eyesight had reduced significantly and had palpitations and generally feeling unwell.
On admission my blood sugars were 30mmol and ketones 5.1.
When my GP did hba1c it was 103 so they said I’d been diabetic for at least 3 months if not longer
I have now been on slow release since Thursday and feel my stomach issues are slightly better.
My sugars are in range most of the time but I am still struggling to read. I have changed my diet and feel I am coping ok.
I’m at the GP’s this Wednesday so shall see how I’m doing.

Hi and welcome to the forum.

I have been thinking the same as @rebrascora regarding things pointing towards T1. T2s generally don't have ketones as they are generated from lack of insulin along with high BGs. When you say your sugars are in range most of the time, are you testing and what sort of numbers are you seeing?

 

[sharon101]

Hi
They are ranging 8.7 morning 6.6 in day and 9.2 bedtime

 

[rebrascora]

If you have changed your diet, then it is likely that that is giving your failing pancreas a chance to hold it's own and produce enough insulin to cope for now, but that may be short lived. Did they give you insulin in hospital? Again, if they did, that will have helped your pancreas to catch up and cope after becoming overwhelmed!

I appreciate that this may all sound rather negative, but it is important to understand that Type 1 and Type 2 are very different but that many people are misdiagnosed, because an HbA1c of 48 or more gets you a diabetes diagnosis and then they usually just take into consideration your age and if you are perhaps carrying a bit of extra weight or you maybe have admitted to a poor diet rather than doing the actual Type 1 identification tests which are C-peptide and Gad antibody tests. The majority of people are type 2 so, it is a bit of a lazy assumption to make and the testing for Type 1 is more expensive and takes quite a while for results to come through, so it is easier to just treat you as Type 2 and see what happens, but you could very easily reach crisis point again and end up with Diabetic Ketoacidosis which is very serious.

Have they given you a means of measuring for ketones? Either urine strips or Blood ketone strips? If not ask for some because if you have developed ketones once it can happen again and you need to be able to check because you could become ill very quickly. If you are Type 1 then you will need insulin sooner rather than later and if your levels go high and you don't have any insulin to bring them down and ketones develop again you could become very ill.

I managed to get my BG levels down into single figures after Type 2 diagnosis by eating progressively very strict low carb, but thankfully I had a switched on nurse who realised that I wasn't a normal Type 2 and my second HbA1c had increased instead of decreased so they started me on insulin and referred me to the consultant and he sanctioned the Type 1 tests.

I hope you also have a good medical team overseeing your treatment who keep in regular contact with you and ensure that you are safe.